Trump’s Teleprompter Operator Is Out After Winning $100K Betting on His Speeches
Key Points
- Gabriel Perez allegedly bet on more than a dozen Trump speeches over three months, including the State of the Union.
- Sources told ABC News that the trades produced more than $100,000 in winnings on Kalshi’s “Mentions” markets.
- Kalshi said its surveillance team flagged the activity and referred the trades to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
- The White House placed Perez on unpaid leave on July 16 and confirmed on July 28 that he no longer worked for the federal government.
How Trump’s Teleprompter Operator Allegedly Bet on His Speeches
Gabriel Perez, a longtime White House teleprompter operator, is no longer employed by the federal government following allegations that he used advance knowledge of President Trump’s prepared remarks to bet on prediction markets.
A White House official confirmed Perez’s departure to the Associated Press on July 28 but did not say whether he resigned or was fired. Perez had been placed on unpaid administrative leave 12 days earlier after ABC News reported that he was under investigation over trades placed through Kalshi.
More Than a Dozen Trump Speeches Were Involved
According to the report, Perez allegedly placed trades tied to more than a dozen Trump speeches during a three-month period. The markets allowed users to buy contracts predicting whether Trump would say particular words, phrases or topics during public appearances.
The speeches reportedly included Trump’s State of the Union address, a December primetime address, his January appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos and remarks delivered during a March Medal of Honor ceremony.
Perez had operated Trump’s teleprompter since the 2016 presidential campaign and was described by sources as one of the final people to see his prepared remarks. He also reportedly handled last-minute edits from Trump.
That access would have given Perez information unavailable to ordinary traders. Investigators also reportedly identified occasions when he exited positions during a speech after Trump skipped prepared passages containing words on which Perez had bet.
Sources told ABC News that Perez acknowledged some of the trades during an interview with regulators. Perez has not been publicly charged, and no final CFTC settlement had been announced as of August 4.
Kalshi Detected the Trades and Referred Them to Regulators
Kalshi said its internal monitoring system identified the activity and escalated it to the CFTC.
“Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators,” Bobby DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, said in a statement provided to ABC News.
Kalshi’s rules prohibit trading by anyone who possesses material nonpublic information, can influence a contract’s outcome or works for an organization responsible for the information used to settle a market. The company also began requiring traders to disclose their employers in June.
The exchange says suspicious accounts can be frozen while its compliance team reviews trading records, identity information and evidence supplied by the trader. Violations can result in financial penalties, suspension and referral to regulators or law enforcement, according to Kalshi’s published enforcement policies.
The CFTC has not publicly confirmed an enforcement case against Perez. Sources said regulators had discussed a possible settlement that would require him to surrender his profits and refrain from similar trading.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan were also reportedly notified but declined to open a criminal investigation.
Perez Was Placed on Leave Before Leaving Government
The White House placed Perez on unpaid administrative leave after the allegations became public on July 16.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump considered the reported conduct a “disgrace” and personally decided to suspend Perez. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said the administration had “strict ethics guidelines” that all staff members and officials were expected to follow.
A White House official subsequently told the Associated Press that Perez “no longer works in the federal government.” The administration did not disclose the circumstances of his departure.
Why This Matters for Bettors
The alleged advantage here could hardly be cleaner: ordinary traders were trying to predict what Trump would say while reportedly trading against someone who had access to the prepared text.
That creates a direct pricing problem. A prediction-market contract may display a public price, but that price is only useful when traders believe they are competing on reasonably fair terms. If someone with privileged information can build positions before the market adjusts, other participants become the source of that person’s profit.
Speech markets are especially vulnerable because the number of people with advance knowledge can be significant. Speechwriters, technical staff, event organizers, executives and outside advisers may all see prepared material before it becomes public. Many of them will never appear on a conventional list of political insiders.
Kalshi can reasonably point to the referral as evidence that its surveillance system worked. Its compliance team identified the suspicious trading, investigated it and alerted the federal regulator. That is stronger protection than bettors receive on an anonymous offshore platform.
The harder question is how quickly the system worked. The reported trading covered more than a dozen speeches and allegedly generated over $100,000 before the case became public. Detection after repeated profitable trades can support enforcement, but it does not fully protect the traders who accepted bad prices while the activity was happening.
The CFTC has already warned that using confidential information obtained through employment can violate federal commodities law. In a February 2026 advisory, the agency said exchanges such as Kalshi must maintain audit trails, monitor trading and enforce rules against fraud, manipulation and the misuse of nonpublic information.
For the wider market, the Perez allegations show how quickly prediction markets can create tradable incentives around people with direct control over an outcome. The more contracts platforms offer on speeches, corporate announcements, political decisions and other tightly controlled events, the more aggressively they will need to identify anyone whose job gives them an unfair informational advantage.
What Happens Next
The immediate question is whether Perez reaches a settlement with the CFTC. Based on the terms reportedly discussed, he could be required to return his profits and accept restrictions on future trading. Until the agency files an action or announces a settlement, those terms remain unconfirmed.
Kalshi will also face pressure to show that its employment-disclosure requirement and surveillance systems can identify compromised traders earlier. That may mean additional restrictions around political speech markets, lower position limits or closer scrutiny of accounts connected to government agencies and other source organizations.
For bettors, the markets are unlikely to disappear because of one case. The likely result is tighter identity screening and more visible enforcement as prediction-market platforms try to prove that insiders cannot treat public traders as easy counterparties.
Ari started his gaming career as a poker grinder, then a crypto trader, before stumbling onto prediction markets. He’s now deep into betting on everything from politics to pop culture to tech layoffs. If it has uncertainty and odds, Ari’s in.
Skeptical by nature, Ari is fully convinced that the weirdest bets often hide the sharpest edges. If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to beat the market by reading the news better than everyone else - Ari’s here to show you how.
